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How durable were the shuttles supposed to be in TNG? In TOS the shuttle didn't seem to have any defenses and had limited range. They sent Scotty out in a shuttle during TNG with the implication that he'd be totally safe flying around the galaxy in it. Where the designs of a what a shuttle could do that different?

I've kinda wondered about that, too. They do in a way have kind of a flimsy appearance to us, but clearly they are at least space-worthy. It's obvious to say that, but its actual definition is vague.

The range question is hard to address. In the original series we saw Kirk and Commodore Mendez attempting to catch the Enterprise in one, but there were references to the fuel supply running down, though we have no idea how far they'd flown at that point, though it couldn't have been too long.

On the other hand, Lokai of Cheron had stolen a shuttle from Starbase Two (or was it Four?), and it was stated that the shuttle was stolen two weeks ago when the Enterprise had run across it.

Presumably they could do more by the time The Next Generation had come, but I've no idea how much more. They were sometimes seen to be used for rather long journeys, so they must have been reasonably durable. One can assume they had replicators, so people would have access to food and water. As far as sleep...I would have to conclude that they'd have to snooze in the pilot seats.

Defense-wise, I'm not so sure. I seem to remember the Romulans had no trouble immobilizing Geordi's shuttle in The Mind's Eye.

When they gave Scotty the shuttle, wasn't there a line that it would get him to the retirement colony he was originally headed for a hundred years prior?

So, the E-D was within range of known Federation territory, and Scotty wasn't just gonna be adrift in space on the far reaches or anything. The shuttle could get him anywhere he would need to go, eventually.

And if ya go by the novels, Scotty gets back to Earth, becomes a host of a bar, and winds up in charge of Starfleet's Corps of Engineers before gettin' command of a Galaxy class starship.

I have a related question. If a shuttle gets destroyed do they just replicate another one? Or do they actually have to build it? Now that I think about it, couldn't they just build a really big replicator and pump out galaxy class starships?

I have a related question. If a shuttle gets destroyed do they just replicate another one? Or do they actually have to build it? Now that I think about it, couldn't they just build a really big replicator and pump out galaxy class starships?

I doubt they can just "replicate" entire starships. That's stretching the technology a bit too far. We could probably argue there's quantum-level details in starship building that's critical and since replicators only work on an atomic level they can't be replicated. Certain parts and materials, sure, but not the entire thing.

It could also be a "cost" thing, the amount of energy it'd take to replicate an entire starship exceeds the energy it takes to simply mine certain materials, smelt them into alloys and to have workers build it from scratch. Again, it's one thing to replicate certain parts and materials, it's another to replicate tons of a common metal you can just harvest from an asteroid or something at half the energy cost.

Along the same lines I doubt they can just "replicate' shuttles again coming back to a quantum-level complexity that would be lost in the replication process or a cost-benefit situation. It's not worth replicating an entire shuttle when you can just go to a starbase and pick one up at no energy cost. (Energy better spent for other things like food, propulsion, etc.)

Energy is very, very plentiful in the Federation but it's not infinite and still "costs" something to make. Either in dilithium or in antimatter (which must either be harvested/collected or produced in some manner.)

Along the same lines I doubt they can just "replicate' shuttles again coming back to a quantum-level complexity that would be lost in the replication process or a cost-benefit situation. It's not worth replicating an entire shuttle when you can just go to a starbase and pick one up at no energy cost. (Energy better spent for other things like food, propulsion, etc.)

Voyager managed it just fine. They built their super shuttle in the space of a single episode, and unless they had like 50 plus shuttles crammed in every nook and cranny of the ship, they were rebuilding those things non-stop.

TORRES: I don't know about you, but I've got a case of class two claustrophobia.
PARIS: Ah, I remember it well.
SEVEN: Lieutenant?
TORRES: Oh, that's what Starfleet cadets used to call these class two shuttles. Fast, manoeuvrable, but not built for comfort.
PARIS: They used to shoehorn half a dozen cadets into one of these things for weeks at a time. You did not want to be around when they opened up that airlock.

Along the same lines I doubt they can just "replicate' shuttles again coming back to a quantum-level complexity that would be lost in the replication process or a cost-benefit situation. It's not worth replicating an entire shuttle when you can just go to a starbase and pick one up at no energy cost. (Energy better spent for other things like food, propulsion, etc.)

Voyager managed it just fine. They built their super shuttle in the space of a single episode, and unless they had like 50 plus shuttles crammed in every nook and cranny of the ship, they were rebuilding those things non-stop.